Like it or not you, have a brand. How is what you are doing different from other people? It is not what you think your company is about, it is about how you are seen in the eyes of the consumer. Successful branding is that when you walk away your consumer can say I know company X and they do Y. A singular message that people can recall is important. Keep it clear and concise.

Myth: Brand Building Doesn’t Matter Online

The online space is more cluttered than the offline space. 109 million domains registered and 2.5 million trademarks registered.

Search is the initial online engagement for your brand, typically before your website. You have control of some of the content on the web, but some you don’t.

Social results are showing up in searches and may or may not be accurate, and Twitter is included now also.

Consumers Control Your Brand, Not You. Sorry.

Three steps to online brand reputation management

Step 1: Manage and determine what you want to communicate

Step 2: Monitor your brand.

Tools to monitor your brand

Start with search

For your brand

Terms associates with your brand

You competitors

Hot news topics

How do you rank

Where does your name show up

What terms do you want to rank for and which ones do you not want to work for? Giving the example of what you don’t want to show up for, Fisher Price showing up for “toy recall.”

Tools for monitoring:

Keotag

Trackur

Radian 6

Step 3: Respond: to mentions or positive comments

Say thanks

To negative comments – don’t oppress or try to censor people – convey a clear, gentle and friendly image.

Respond directly about the issues so that whomever complained so that they know they have been heard. Address the root issue.

Six tips for dealing with negativity about your brand online:

Humanize your brand – it is easier to hate a company than a person

Listen and try to understand and respond directly to the issues

Thank them for caring

Be transparent and explain

Build a community of passionate brand defenders, they will defend your brand for you